mickfan1's Journal, 23 October 2017

What is your weekend usually like? Do you stay home, or go out? Are you alone, or with family/friends? Do any of them need to lose weight or eat differently, too? 

My husband is at home and that's it. We both need to lose weight and both do well during the week but it's the weekends that do us in. Mostly adult beverages and fast food. We try not to eat out to much but sometimes it's just "easier". On a good note, the weather is finally cooling down (we're in Phoenix) so we'll be able to start hiking again. Any info is appreciated to get me going in the right direction. 

G & I changed the kind of fast food we get, as well as where we go out to eat, bc life goes on and "just easier" remains a factor. ---Adult bevs got eliminated entirely, even diet sodas. :-/ (I still have an occasional diet pop outside the house, and G probably has a glass of wine with dinner out a few times / year.) This does make it easier to stick to food choices. ---We also transitioned to just serving keto food when we host. (Except for when a French friend's daughter stays with us; then I do a pre-dawn run to baker for fresh bread.) --- I don't believe in just cutting things out without looking at what need they've been meeting. Yet it's tough to find positive rituals and meals to fill the role that unhealthful "weekend food" plays; can't say I'm there yet. I figured out how to make extremely LC pizza crust that we like as well as yeast dough, so that fills the comfort/fun gap for movie nights. ---Frankly, at times I miss the taste and effect of wine while cooking, or during "constructive" discussions, not to mention peaty-smoky single malt while compiling expense reports, but for now it's easier to keep things simple. Same reason that for now I don't bake replacement sweets using xylitol etc, either. Too much math and self-monitoring of effect on blood glucose etc. ---What do you eat while hiking? 

So filling up on iced unsweetened herbal tea ( usually some kind of hibiscus blend) before eating really helped me cut down my portion sizes when my stomach was stretched out from binge eating on weekends. Cucumber salads are delicious, filling and can be premade and stored. Like Mexican style cucumber with Chile Tajin and lime, or Japanese thin sliced cucumber with sesame seeds and rice wine vinegar. It's helpful to premake low calorie snacks to have in the fridge over the weekend. Once I controlled my portions then my stomach just shrank! Now even if I cheat on fast food I can't eat very much before I am soooo full!! 

I change my weekend food. I have a smoothie almost every morning M-F but not on weekends. Instead, I creat a great breakfast/lunch with eggs, meat etc. But, I try to stay low carb. And, maybe I will make a steak or some other special meal. It always makes me feel that IO had a "special" weekend if I don't go out for dinner. Treating weekends just like weekdays with same food menus creates boredom for me. And, yes, I am open to any silly trick, food gagdegt, recipe that will keep me in this game. Does it have to make sense? Well, number wise yes with calories, carbs etc but anything goes psychologically including friend support, criticism and conversation. For me, it's the changing up of things. Best of luck to you and thanks for reaching out for ideas - you are on your way! 

Weekends can be tough. Here's what I suggest that might help? Plan what you want to eat before the weekend comes. If that means a little extra shopping or some prep cooking, maybe you could do it together? My husband often helps me make salads and my daughter likes cutting up veggie sticks. If it means you'll eat out (and why not, we like to do that too) plan ahead where you'll go. Check out menus online so you know what's available. I don't know what kind of diet you follow, we do low carb (GI) and so we look for places with a great salad bar, where we can get grilled meat like steak or fish. Make sure whatever you eat you ENJOY. It is that much harder if you're eating the right foods but you hate them. OR, since you can hike soon....pack a picnic! all the right foods.  

Thanks for all of the feed back. I've found some really good ideas here. I am trying to eat more fruits and veggies but they get boring really fast, except for cucumbers. I could eat them everyday. Plain with nothing else. I'm a meat and potatoes gal but I really have limited the potatoes. I splurge once in awhile because I just need to have them. Of course there's the whole bread thing. And ice cream. And chocolate. And on and on and on! As for hiking, I usually don't eat while I'm hiking because I'm not hungry. I make sure I eat something beforehand, usually toast and peanut butter. I drink a lot of water (you need to out here!).  

I have to agree with Perks54, I eat differently weekends and weekdays, and I consider Friday evening part of the weekend. Eating only eat two meals can help. I plan my meals for the week and I really plan for the weekends. Weekends I eat steak, chicken, fish with salads or a salad with meat and cheese, low carb and more protein and fat than during the week. Weekdays I eat more carbs but less calories. I also make sure I drink my water even if I have to drink it at night-8 glasses. I also really try to not eat much salt and if I am retaining water, I drink more water -2 to 4 more cups. 🐾🐾 

FWIW, at this point I can't stick to healthful eating consistently if I'm eating carbs other than non-root vegetables. I'm not an evangelist for low-carb but I don't wish cravings and frustration on anyone.